I'm one of those who would rather taste the complete boring install process than the even more boring, more frustrating, and much longer process of UNDO-ing all the CRAP the OEM did wrong on the default install.
My company would do it, but only for their "key" customers, organizations that ordered systems by the hundreds. Otherwise, it just wasn't worth it, particularly with the razor-thin margins in the business.
I don't understand this. I used to work for a whitebox OEM company. All of our systems were sold with an OS imaged onto the HDD.
It makes no sense to say:
the last step is to load the OS onto the HDD
to sell it blank you get to skip this step
skipping the OS load requires less effort, less time, and less testing
it costs more to manufacture the product without the OS
2.4Ghz Pentium 4
1GB DDR or RDRAM
UDMA133 10GB minimum for OS
nVidia GeForce3 or equal power 4x AGP card
Of course, those are just minimums to get it to BOOT. To actually use it, go SMP, double the RAM, and try hardware RAID if you actually want your hard drives to respond.
Other not-well-know features:
CD-RW support (only support 1x burn speed to slow down pirates, and includes a pseudo-random error generator to make CD coasters with an approximate ratio of 1:7)
DVD support (won't actually play DVDs because of DRM issues, just used to distribute software)
USB 2 support (finally)
Various NIC support (but it will still rely on noisy, broadcast-centric network protocols)
Modem support (WinModems preferred...but then again, who uses modems anymore [-1:flamebait])
And a plethora of other third-party devices are supported but will not work well with each other and whose drivers will on occasion cause Longhorn to hard-lock in a newly improved GREEN screen of death. (Their research indicated people have more positive emotions about the color green instead of blue. If you're color-blind, you unfortunately will see the same old BSOD.)
And of course, the number of system changes that require a reboot is dropped to an all-time low of THREE!!!
But what I want to know is: how often will you have to DE-FRAG the dbfs?
They do sell flat rate services. It's called a T1. Corporations that require flat rates use them all the time. And their bill is the same every month.
What I think the residential market should be is a range: You pay $X/month for AT LEAST nKB bandwidth with NO guarantee you'll EVER get more but YOU MAY. Then they CAP the line at n*2KB or something like that.
The problem is: they want to over sell their available bandwidth. They BANK on residential users using LESS than their alotted bandwidth. That way, they can sell you and me the same bandwidth, knowing we're not likely to BOTH be eating up our share 24/7.
Look, I have my Road Runner connected to a firewall that routes my internal machine to it. Therefore I have more than one machine (technically) hooked up to Road Runner.
The firewall uses NAT for my internal box. My firewall is a custom Linux box I setup myself, but I imagine any firewall would behave similarly.
If they're basically saying you have to have just the one machine directly connected to their service...they're saying YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO RUN A FIREWALL.
How can they possibly suggest that I'm NOT ALLOWED to run a firewall? Especially seeing as how the freaking cable networks some of the worst offenders on portscans etc...
Well, you don't have to pay for Opera. There's an ad-supported version. The ads are not intrusive.
And I know a lot of folks don't want to pay for a browser (I paid for Opera because it's a damn good browser and I wish to support their efforts) but if MS has to start charging for IE, or if they have to unbundle it, OEMs will look for partnerships with other companies for a browser to bundle with their PCs. Opera would have a leg up on others because it's a better browser than Netscape, Mozilla, etc.
I've used them all and Opera bests the others in nearly every way.
If this happens, the OEMs will embed the price of the browser into the cost of the PC. You'll get the same effect now where people don't think they're paying for the OS or IE, but they are.
Are you suggesting it's easier to steal a 3.5" IDE HDD than a tape? I don't follow you...
It may be easier to get the data off of the HDD than a tape, but as far as how easy either is to steal, I'd say it's about even.
I always like backup to HDD then to tape. Intermediate backups to HDD provide a faster backup of the original data, allowing pretty much a full day to backup the backup HDD to tape before the next intermediate backup fires off.
Plus, you have greater redundancy, etc. It would be nice if this thing had the backup HDD and a tape drive.
Perhaps, but I can't say as I've heard many folks crying for Apple to split its OS division from the rest of the company. Nor can I remember them ever having been legally declared a monopoly and found to use their OS monopoly to further their applications division. Nor can I remember/.-ers having a penchant for dissing Apple at every chance.
I thought it was funny. I took a chance. To each its own.
AOL, however, is anti-competitive. And their business tactics are monopolistic. They just haven't been proven a monopoly. They may not actually be a monopoly, but they're close; and their actions IMO are monopolistic.
Ever installed a game that automatically (without asking) put links to sign you up w/ AOL on your desktop? I have kids and let me tell you: lots of kids games do this. That's not all AOL's fault, but they get in bed with these game companies and set this stuff up precisely to be anti-competitive. Additionally, some systems do come with AOL already on them. AOL has gotten into bed with many a PC dealer to make sure their software is pre-installed. Now, that doesn't mean you have to use AOL, but I can't tell you how many DeLLs our company has purchased with an "AOL Adapter" already installed in their network settings...if you catch my drift.
And, while CompuServe made some bone-headed moves of their own, AOL certainly made some anti-competitive moves in that battle before buying and killing them.
And get this, I've installed Windows 95/98 and told it NOT to install the Online Services, but AOL is still there. Again, not that that's all AOL's doing, but they WANT it that way.
One definition of business is "risk-taking." And one key principle of doing business is to eliminate risk. All businesses do it and they are all inherently anti-competitive just as AOL is. But AOL/TW owns a significant enough portion of the Internet as to be borderline monopolistic. They are the largest ISP in the world, IIRC. They only agreed with Earthlink (an equally anti-competitive company) on terms that are basically designed to guarantee the two of them continued profits while blocking out every smaller ISP on the planet.
Lastly, I will give you no crap about who uses AIM. I've never tried Trillian...but on occassion I have messed with everybuddy.
So how does that make it legit? If everybody's doing it, it must be OK?
I thought everything we didn't like about MS was the FUD, the embrace, extend, extinguish, the monopolistic, anti-competitive tactics, and the lousy OS
I thought everything we didn't like about AOL was the monopolistic, anti-competitive tactics, and the lousy software.
Well, that and their predilection for taking over the world.
The liquid nitrogen itself may be inexpensive, but I would imagine all the modifications you'd have to make to a system to keep it running stable with a liquid nitrogen cooling system would be cost prohibitive.
And short-circuits from N2 may not occur, but the condensation on the board can cause them.
I can't say I've watched the new season. I was never a HUGE fan. Oh, OK, maybe a few years ago. I was just happy Robert Patrick got the Dogget role. He's a good actor and I was glad to see him get the exposure. As someone else even said here on/. most folks just knew him as that T2 guy. But he's a terrific character actor. His character on The Soprano's was excellent.
I doubt they would've even included CDs. Most PCs nowadays come without separate Windows CDs, just system recovery CDs. They would likely just leave a recovery partition on the HDD.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm one of those who would rather taste the complete boring install process than the even more boring, more frustrating, and much longer process of UNDO-ing all the CRAP the OEM did wrong on the default install.
Happens every time.
Of course you do. $100 bills are actually worth something.
It makes no sense to say:
- the last step is to load the OS onto the HDD
- to sell it blank you get to skip this step
- skipping the OS load requires less effort, less time, and less testing
- it costs more to manufacture the product without the OS
I just think that's crazy talk.What I want to know is: when will they make a computer I can plug *directly* into my head?
I can carry nearly eighty gigs of data in my head.
Minimum Hardware for Longhorn:
2.4Ghz Pentium 4
1GB DDR or RDRAM
UDMA133 10GB minimum for OS
nVidia GeForce3 or equal power 4x AGP card
Of course, those are just minimums to get it to BOOT. To actually use it, go SMP, double the RAM, and try hardware RAID if you actually want your hard drives to respond.
Other not-well-know features:
CD-RW support (only support 1x burn speed to slow down pirates, and includes a pseudo-random error generator to make CD coasters with an approximate ratio of 1:7)
DVD support (won't actually play DVDs because of DRM issues, just used to distribute software)
USB 2 support (finally)
Various NIC support (but it will still rely on noisy, broadcast-centric network protocols)
Modem support (WinModems preferred...but then again, who uses modems anymore [-1:flamebait])
And a plethora of other third-party devices are supported but will not work well with each other and whose drivers will on occasion cause Longhorn to hard-lock in a newly improved GREEN screen of death. (Their research indicated people have more positive emotions about the color green instead of blue. If you're color-blind, you unfortunately will see the same old BSOD.)
And of course, the number of system changes that require a reboot is dropped to an all-time low of THREE!!!
But what I want to know is: how often will you have to DE-FRAG the dbfs?
They do sell flat rate services. It's called a T1. Corporations that require flat rates use them all the time. And their bill is the same every month.
What I think the residential market should be is a range: You pay $X/month for AT LEAST nKB bandwidth with NO guarantee you'll EVER get more but YOU MAY. Then they CAP the line at n*2KB or something like that.
The problem is: they want to over sell their available bandwidth. They BANK on residential users using LESS than their alotted bandwidth. That way, they can sell you and me the same bandwidth, knowing we're not likely to BOTH be eating up our share 24/7.
Look, I have my Road Runner connected to a firewall that routes my internal machine to it. Therefore I have more than one machine (technically) hooked up to Road Runner.
The firewall uses NAT for my internal box. My firewall is a custom Linux box I setup myself, but I imagine any firewall would behave similarly.
If they're basically saying you have to have just the one machine directly connected to their service...they're saying YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO RUN A FIREWALL.
How can they possibly suggest that I'm NOT ALLOWED to run a firewall? Especially seeing as how the freaking cable networks some of the worst offenders on portscans etc...
Freaking morons.
Well, you don't have to pay for Opera. There's an ad-supported version. The ads are not intrusive.
And I know a lot of folks don't want to pay for a browser (I paid for Opera because it's a damn good browser and I wish to support their efforts) but if MS has to start charging for IE, or if they have to unbundle it, OEMs will look for partnerships with other companies for a browser to bundle with their PCs. Opera would have a leg up on others because it's a better browser than Netscape, Mozilla, etc.
I've used them all and Opera bests the others in nearly every way.
If this happens, the OEMs will embed the price of the browser into the cost of the PC. You'll get the same effect now where people don't think they're paying for the OS or IE, but they are.
Umm...Of course I'll probably be modded off-topic, but oh, well...my wife uses Eudora.
She refused to use Opera's built-in e-mail client, and I refused to install Outlook.
One big bully pushes another big bully. Now everyone stand around and watch the fight.
AOLTW is just trying to divert attention from its loss of $155 Billion in market cap since the merger.
Anyway, the only hope I have is that maybe IE and Netscape will both get so much bad press that Opera will come out on top!
Are you suggesting it's easier to steal a 3.5" IDE HDD than a tape? I don't follow you...
It may be easier to get the data off of the HDD than a tape, but as far as how easy either is to steal, I'd say it's about even.
I always like backup to HDD then to tape. Intermediate backups to HDD provide a faster backup of the original data, allowing pretty much a full day to backup the backup HDD to tape before the next intermediate backup fires off.
Plus, you have greater redundancy, etc. It would be nice if this thing had the backup HDD and a tape drive.
Perhaps, but I can't say as I've heard many folks crying for Apple to split its OS division from the rest of the company. Nor can I remember them ever having been legally declared a monopoly and found to use their OS monopoly to further their applications division. Nor can I remember /.-ers having a penchant for dissing Apple at every chance.
I thought it was funny. I took a chance. To each its own.
The OS division has spun off from the rest of the company!!! I can't believe it!
Oh...It's not Microsoft? Nevermind.
On the legit thing: point conceded.
AOL, however, is anti-competitive. And their business tactics are monopolistic. They just haven't been proven a monopoly. They may not actually be a monopoly, but they're close; and their actions IMO are monopolistic.
Ever installed a game that automatically (without asking) put links to sign you up w/ AOL on your desktop? I have kids and let me tell you: lots of kids games do this. That's not all AOL's fault, but they get in bed with these game companies and set this stuff up precisely to be anti-competitive. Additionally, some systems do come with AOL already on them. AOL has gotten into bed with many a PC dealer to make sure their software is pre-installed. Now, that doesn't mean you have to use AOL, but I can't tell you how many DeLLs our company has purchased with an "AOL Adapter" already installed in their network settings...if you catch my drift.
And, while CompuServe made some bone-headed moves of their own, AOL certainly made some anti-competitive moves in that battle before buying and killing them.
And get this, I've installed Windows 95/98 and told it NOT to install the Online Services, but AOL is still there. Again, not that that's all AOL's doing, but they WANT it that way.
One definition of business is "risk-taking." And one key principle of doing business is to eliminate risk. All businesses do it and they are all inherently anti-competitive just as AOL is. But AOL/TW owns a significant enough portion of the Internet as to be borderline monopolistic. They are the largest ISP in the world, IIRC. They only agreed with Earthlink (an equally anti-competitive company) on terms that are basically designed to guarantee the two of them continued profits while blocking out every smaller ISP on the planet.
Lastly, I will give you no crap about who uses AIM. I've never tried Trillian...but on occassion I have messed with everybuddy.
I thought everything we didn't like about AOL was the monopolistic, anti-competitive tactics, and the lousy software.
Well, that and their predilection for taking over the world.
Riiiiight...
The liquid nitrogen itself may be inexpensive, but I would imagine all the modifications you'd have to make to a system to keep it running stable with a liquid nitrogen cooling system would be cost prohibitive.
And short-circuits from N2 may not occur, but the condensation on the board can cause them.
But I am.
I've been wondering what to do with those tanks of liquid nitrogen in my garage. I mean, I've got like a hundred gallons of the stuff. Don't we all?
Then again, what's the point? For the expense of raising a 2.2 Ghz chip to a 3.75Ghz, you could buy another 2.2 Ghz system or two.
I can't say I've watched the new season. I was never a HUGE fan. Oh, OK, maybe a few years ago. I was just happy Robert Patrick got the Dogget role. He's a good actor and I was glad to see him get the exposure. As someone else even said here on /. most folks just knew him as that T2 guy. But he's a terrific character actor. His character on The Soprano's was excellent.
So...were there any Leather Goddesses on Eros?
Just a few days ago folks were harping about how great it was for them to stand up to RIAA and all that bull-crap.
Props to Codex The Sloth. Who moderated this comment as a troll?!
I know...I expected that trailer to be an external gas tank.
I doubt they would've even included CDs. Most PCs nowadays come without separate Windows CDs, just system recovery CDs. They would likely just leave a recovery partition on the HDD.
Of course not. Haven't you heard?